The Carolina Hurricanes have the opportunity to take a 3-1 series lead over the New Jersey Devils in Newark on Sunday afternoon when the puck drops for Game 4 at 3:30.
Friday night’s Game 3 was a letdown for the Hurricanes that saw the Devils claw their way back into the series.
New Jersey was the better team for most of the game, but power play goals by Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis forced overtime before New Jersey rookie Simon Nemec buried a winner in double overtime.
Goalie Frederik Andersen was phenomenal on Friday as he has been in each of the first three games of this series, but he’s faced a heavy workload, and the short turnaround time between Friday night and Sunday afternoon could make it best for Andersen to take the day off.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour will address the media at 1:00 PM, at which point we should know more about any possible lineup changes.
One possible situation to watch beyond the first appearance for Pyotr Kochetkov in this playoff run could be Mark Jankowski coming in for Jack Roslovic.
Jankowski’s defensive presence could help better manage the matchups on the road, and Roslovic had a rough night on Friday, getting beat by Nemec on the zone entry of the game-winning goal.
There’s also the remote possibility that Alexander Nikishin could make his NHL debut after officially signing an NHL contract Saturday, but that seems far less likely.
On New Jersey’s side of things, Johnathan Kovacevic left Friday’s game after the first period, leaving head coach Sheldon Keefe down another defensemen with Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon already sidelined.
The return of Jonas Siegenthaler on Friday helped the situation for the Devils, but if Hughes, Dillon and Kovacevic all can’t go, Dennis Cholowski could draw back in on the back end.
Here’s how to check out the action:
- Time: 3:30 PM ET
- Location: Prudential Center, Newark, NJ.
- TV: FanDuel Sports Network South with Mike Maniscalco, play-by-play; Tripp Tracy, color analyst; Hanna Yates, in-game reporter; Shane Willis, analyst OR TNT.
- Radio: 99.9 The Fan
- Line: ML: CAR -180; PL: CAR -1.5 +154
